Yesterday, I thought I was going to dedicate Day 4 to Adrienne Rich, but the sad news of her passing has already brought her to the forefront of some of our feeds. Then a good friend posted a link to an article about 10 Muslim women every person should know. I was intrigued and as I read through the article, Sultan Raziyya caught my attention. Due to the fact that I am not well versed in my Muslim women's history, I thought I'd take this opportunity to make sure I included at least one Muslim woman now, and make a note to myself to include more in the future.
While there is not much information out there on the Sultan, there is some. Muslim women have served as revolutionary and heroic leaders throughout history. Since 1988, there has been at least one Muslim woman president or prime minister in the world. Sultan Raziyya was the Sultan of Delhi from 1236 to 1240. She refused to be addressed as Sultana because it meant "wife or mistress of a sultan" and only answered to the title "Sultan." As she solidified her power, she believed that appropriating a masculine image would help her maintain control. So she dressed like a man and wore a turban, trousers, coat and sword. Contrary to custom, she appeared unveiled in public. Sultan Raziyya was known for her belief that the spirit of religion is more important than its parts. She established schools, academies, centers for research and public libraries. (this paragraph stolen from Fazeela Siddiqui's Huff post article.) A couple more fun facts about Raziyya is that there are three disputed grave sites. No one really knows where her final resting place is. Since she was the first female Sultan of Delhi, she is the subject of many legends. There are fictional novels about her, a comic strip about her and a 1983 urdu film. Clearly, I need to do more homework on Raziyya. She caught my attention for a reason. I hope she catches your attention, too.
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DawnWomen's history geek, mom, lesbian, theologian, dreamer. Archives
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